Queen of Hearts
by Mmbookworm
Summary: Several weeks after Rogue returns to the mansion after her escapades in Louisiana with Gambit she wakes up to find another card waiting for her. One-shot Romy. Summary sucks please R&R
1. Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts

"_You will be fine, cheri. You got people watchin over you." _

He had said those words to her on the banks of the Mississippi only a few weeks ago and yet they still echoed through her head. She had spent the entire flight back to the Institute trying to figure out what his game had been, everyone had one. Almost no one did anything for free, not even the Professor, sure his motives were a little purer than those of some of the others but he still wanted obedience and respect.

Not that Rogue really had much of a problem with either those things where he was concerned but it did get bothersome when everyone expected the same despite their actions. You get what you give, Rogue had learned that the hard way. Maybe that was why Gambit had been so easy to get along with. They both knew that neither trusted the other; but there was a strange comfort in the knowledge that neither of them expected anything from the other except eventual betrayal, or at least that's how Rogue looked at it.

At least that was until this morning, she had found **another **card. And now she was sitting on her bed looking at both cards lying on the bedspread before her trying to figure out what it meant. Her mind drifted back to their time on the train on the way down South. Compared to what it could have been like it was actually ALMOST a pleasant experience

"_What is with you and cards?" she had asked one evening when she had finally tired of the silence and she was sure he had long since tired of playing solitaire. She had had to cock her head to one side to be able to see him out of the corner of her eye. _

"_Well, it's like havin' fifty-two explosive tucked away in one little pocket. I always save her last." Remy said with florish as he held up a card. As he brought it down to his mouth to give it a small kiss before tucking it back away Rogue saw it was the Queen of Hearts. _

"_Queen of Hearts?" she was sure there was a bemused expression on her face. _

"_My lucky lady. She's gotten me out of a whole lotta jams." Remy said with mixed emotions in his voice as though it were both a good and a bad thing all at once. _

"_Then I need a deck of those." Rogue said glumly thinking about the situation she had created back home before she left, well been kidnapped. _

"_It's nice havin' someone to watch over you, Rogue," his voice was barely above a whisper as he said that, as though his thoughts were somewhere else. _

The barest hint of smile crossed her lips as Rogue looked down at the cards, the meaning of the second one, the King of Hearts, suddenly becoming clear to her. He was watching over her. That's what the card meant. He was nearby, if she needed him. She stopped a moment; after all it is a little strange to be happy that the man that kidnapped you only a few weeks earlier was watching over you.

His words echoed through her mind again ; _"It's nice havin' someone to watch over you, Rogue," _ and as screwed up as it might be she was happy that **he** was watching out for her. There was something about him that just seemed RIGHT about him.


	2. Update

Author Note:  
Okay so this is because I have another Rogue Gambit story in the works and I want to let you guys know that. I've been wanting to put a series together showing how Marvel COULD have done their relationship, in my humble opinion, in Evolution. The plan is that it's a series of little one or two shots that make up the story so stay tuned!


	3. First Kiss

AN: So does anyone else wonder what was going through Remy's mind when Rogue kissed him? How he felt about it after…? Hmmm, I have and here's what I think would have been on his dirty Cajun mind. 

First Kiss

She had taken out three powerful, older and more experienced mutants in close quarters combat in under two minutes. And here she was in **his** guard, the adrenaline flooded his veins; Remy felt his heart speed up as she closed in on him. He barely had anytime to register how close she was and it was only later that he remembered that she had not even flinched once as she closed in on him. Mere seconds after she was behind his defenses and he felt her lips searing themselves against his, his mind went blank for several reasons (AN: I bet you can guess them); he would remember having only one thought at the moment her lips touched his and that was a very quiet non-regretful "_I'm fucked"_ .

Several hours later

Upon waking Remy found he had a tremendous headache; it felt like he had spent the night drinking and had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor. Though unlike waking up after a night of drinking he remembered EVERYTHING, he remembered watching a young woman take out some of the most ruthless mutants in the world. And she had done it in less than two minutes; to say he was impressed was an understatement. Since the day he had met her he had been quite obsessed with her, that's not to say he'd watched her sleep or anything. He just followed her around, nothing wrong with being in the same public place at the same time. (AN: Obviously there is but he doesn't really get the boundaries thing)

Sitting up slowly to ease the changing blood flow in his head Remy thought back to the moment he knew she had him; she had thrown him and he had lost sight of her. Standing up he looked around and suddenly she was there; in his guard and before he'd drawn breath her lips had brushed his.

There had been no fear in her eyes; he let his fingers trace over his lips, where hers had been. He felt his own lips turn upwards with a smile, he was pretty sure it had been her first kiss. Though if he ever got the chance again he would give her a second and happily pay the price to hear her breath catch in her throat.

It was a fantasy that would keep him through the days and nights to come. The hope that he would be able to repay the favor she had given him. There was something about that girl that he couldn't shake from his thoughts. She was there even in the moments he wasn't consciously thinking of her.

It's a short little chapter, sorry, more to come soon; just need to get out ahead of a couple of things. Hopefully an update by the weekend, but we'll see. Now like all writers I like reviews so click the little box down there and let me know what you thought!


	4. Worth It

Worth It

Waking up in his room, on the floor where it appeared he had been unceremoniously dropped Remy smiled and decide it had been worth it. As he picked himself up and walked to the bathroom he shared with Nightcrawler, Remy continued to smile like a fool despite the fact that he needed some aspirin for a killer headache. He knew this was going to happen so he had sure that he had some in stock in the bathroom as well as making sure that he would have another encounter with the woman of his dreams.

After downing the pills he sauntered back to the arm chair by the window that looked out over the grounds only to notice a note left on his desk. Picking it up he read the words hastily scrawled in Rogue's handwriting, it said:

Swamp Rat, don't think I care  
because you woke up here;  
I just didn't want questions from Logan.  
You're Welcome

Smiling to himself, Remy's tongue ran along his lips as he read it and heard her lovely southern drawl and her petal soft lips. He smiled savoring the moment. Even if she claimed she didn't some part of Rogue cared about him. Of course she had to claim selfish reasons for moving him but the fact is that she could have shut him any number of places where he wouldn't be found until he woke up and wandered off.

His current headache was certainly worth it to learn more about the illusive young woman. Rogue was the reason he was here. Not in like the reason he was breathing or anything, although he didn't rule out the possibility that one day she might be his reason for being, but for now he was here because she was here.

He had joined the X-men only a few months ago. Nearly all of the younger girls were taken with him including Rogue's friend Kitty. But Rogue didn't fall for his accent, why would she? She had one too, his just had more French than hers, a distinct advantage when dealing with impressionable young girls who swooned for an accent. Remy was not hesitant to take advantage of the accent or his gift of befriending nearly anyone and used them to sway the population of the school to nearly his every whim, the girls were the first to fall in line, except Rogue. She didn't trust him for some reason. But it had always been Rogue he had wanted.

And by this point he thought there was a pretty good chance that she was slowly falling for him. That had been the second reason why he had repaid her the favor she had once given him. What better way to get a girl to fall for you than by giving her the truth within your mind without saying a word and he had done just that.

Remembering earlier in the afternoon, Remy happily remembered the encounter in his armchair by the window; it was a silent Saturday around the mansion; Scott and Jean were off doing whatever they did alone, Kitty had run off to see Lance as soon Logan had gone out for a ride on his motorcycle. This left Remy alone with Rogue and the younger kids who were all infatuated with themselves and barely noticed the older members of the team. Remy smiled as his finger traced along his lips remembering the feeling he had had twice now.

Since he had entered the Mansion, Rogue had spent as little time around Remy as was possible. She would leave the room if he entered and she were alone. It hurt him to some extent that she thought he would hurt her. Sure there was that time a year and a half ago when he had given her a charged card; but he hadn't known her then. He had been doing a job and he found the one thing on Earth he wanted to steal more than anything else and didn't know how to go about.

Sneaking into the den Remy saw Rogue curled up with a book, like usual. Glancing up she saw him and put away her book and exited the den, smirking Remy followed her down the dim hallway that led to the kitchen, everything was part of a plan.

Before she got to the kitchen Rogue made a sharp turn into a room Remy had never been in before. He'd assumed she'd want to be around people and would head towards the more populated parts of the mansion. Shrugging to himself he followed her, the setting didn't change his plan. It would just change how quickly he was found, maybe this was better.

As he entered the room Remy had barely a moment to register that it was completely empty except for a few chairs, a settee, and book shelf before Rogue's hand grabbed his shirt collar and pushed him up against a wall "Why are you following me?" she demanded in her wonderful accent that was music to his ears.

"Not following you cheri, just wandering around my new home. You know I've never been in this room before. Learning new things all the time. What about you and me call this one our room?" He said wiggling his eyebrows at her as though there would be some secret tryst taking place in this one room.

"I'm going to say this once Remy," she said glaring up at him "I want nothing to do with you." She really was beautiful, a deadly kind of beautiful. Just like an ice storm, beautiful if you are inside and warm, deadly if you are caught out in the weather.

"Ah but Rogue, we both know that's not entirely true." He said leering down at her and invading her personal space, he could see the fear in her eyes as he got closer and closer to her. He stopped a breath away from her nose and continued "And besides I have it on good authority that I owe you a small little favor from not too long ago. And it's something you want," he said running a gloved finder down the side of her face.

He could feel her involuntary shudder beneath his finger. And watched as she licked her lips, his smile only widening as he gazed at her lips. His eyes flicking back to hers, he watched as doubt began to enter her mind.

He tried to smile reassuringly at her as his hand brushed through her hair, careful not to touch skin to skin, at least not just yet. "Rogue, I would never do anything to hurt. You're too important, Cheri.

She relaxed a little, but not much. Remy wasn't surprised that she was still on edge a little bit. "I don' trust you Remy," she said trying to sound strong and confident but he could hear the edge of fear. The way the fear crept into the edge of her voice suggested that she was still second guess her choice of location for an ambush.

"Ah, Cheri I would never do anything to hurt you." Remy said wishing there was some way he could take back how that first meeting had ended. He had been so intrigued by her and hadn't know what to do so he reacted the only way knew and that was to charge and run.

"You still tried to blow me up." She said moving a step further away from him. Her eyes never leaving his. Remy knew she could throw him, their last encounter in close combat fresh in him mind.

"That was nothing Rogue, wouldn't have done any damage. I just wasn't expecting to see you and you took me a bit by surprise. I found myself in a situation I didn't know how to get out of and my reaction is to charge and run. But I would never hurt you cheri," His eyes imploring her to believe him. "You're something to protect Rogue."

Her reaction to what he said was immediate she pushed him back into the wall and shook her gloved finger in his face and said "I'm going to say this once, so you better get it Swamp Rat. I. Don't. Need. Anyone. To. Protect. Me."

"Physically, non chere you don't. But emotionally you need someone who won't treat you like you're made of glass." Remy said looking in her eyes. "And that's what I want to protect. The strong beautiful woman who is capable of so much love that she could save the world." He really was falling hard for the Southern Belle.

"Remy" her voice was barely above a whisper. No one had ever said such things about her and she never would have guessed that the man who tried to blow her up would say or see them.

"Cherie, there is something you need to know and I don't know how to say it so please forgive me." He said drawing a deep breath and mentally preparing himself for what was going to come.

Before she could say another word or he could second guess himself Remy brushed his ungloved finger across her cheek and began to feel his power drain immediately. Cupping her face Remy captured her lips with his. He kissed her as desperately as he had ever kissed any woman, though with much more love. He had so little time once they touched before he would fall helpless at her feet and he needed to make it count.

The kiss was the most intense kiss of his life, her lips trembled beneath his and he had enough time to taste her lip balm. It tasted like honey and melons, it was the best taste of his life. Throughout the entire kiss he fought as long as he could to stay conscious but in the end her power won out and he collapsed at her feet.

"That's how you should be kissed Rogue with love and consciousness." Remy said looking about his room now that he was awake and he was certain the headache he had was worth it


	5. Midnight Visitor

Midnight Visitor

AN: I know it's been a long time coming, I'm sorry I haven't updated this in months. I haven't known how to get to where I want to go with the story. Chronologically this story takes place a couple chapters back. This is basically my take on why Gambit joined, at least in my iteration of the Evolution series.

_Hope is the thing with feather  
That perches in the soul  
And signs the tune without the words  
And never stops at all._

_~Emily Dickinson_

The night air doesn't usually feel like this, not like back home in Mississippi on the river. It's too far north, but sometimes in the middle of summer, if I'm lucky it will feel muggy and humid with a cool breeze at night. There are times I think about running away, it's not like the Institute is doing me any good. No matter how much time I spend with the Professor I can't seem to get control of my powers. So yeah I think about running away back South and making my own way, might actually do it when I can legally leave, since this is technically my home and the Professor is my guardian. I really miss the river at night.

But religiously every night during the summer I check the night air to see if it's like back home and I can have a few hours in heaven. Tonight has been one of those nights so I've been sitting out here on the roof in silence and peace rereading Dracula for the umpteenth time enjoying the air, that sweet wonderful muggy air that sticks in your throat and seems to moisten you lips with just enough of a cool breeze to make it tolerable.

Well I had just gotten to my favorite part where Mena sort of falls for Dracula because he has such a tremendous sadness about him and she wants to help him smile; when I become aware of noise that shouldn't be there. It's a motorcycle on the wind that's been cooling me all evening. That's not so unusual here Logan has one, but he's been here 'babysitting' all summer since we're all out of school and the whole hormone thing worries the adults.

When I take a few breaths to listen closer I don't hear it anymore, must be one of the men from the town. Surely Logan isn't the only one with a motorcycle in this town? Turning back to my book and looking forward to more of the night air I can't help but feel a little edgy since the motorcycle. Another chapter passes and I haven't heard the motorcycle again, so it was probably nothing to worry about.

Deciding it doesn't matter and having come to a good stopping point I replace my bookmark. Stowing the book in the pocket of my cargo pants and begin to shimmy down the drain pipe. When I moved into this room I reinforced the pipe so I could reach the roof and gain some peace from my ever expanding family.

I land lightly on the floor of my bedroom, don't want to wake my next door neighbor Kitty would want to know why I was out so late and I don't much feel like sharing.

"Hello, Cherie," his voice rang out from the shadows, that's not at all creepy. Nope him standing in the shadows of my room is completely normal and sane.

"Swamp Rat," I say, it's not that I don't like. I do, but he can't know that. He's already obsessed enough and encouraging that in any way is not a good thing. So I'm not overly friendly, our relationship is a lot like a truce.

"Cherie," his voice is so amazing I love hearing it, the way he seems to taste some words like Cherie and my name. Remy is the only one who calls me by my name, he's the only one that knows it and knows how much I love and miss it. I have to be Rogue I haven't found a way to go back to Anna-Marie, at least not yet.

"Mmmm?" I say not wanting to let on that his behavior affect me and I don't need him knowing how much I've wanted this and the welling up of joy that I feel.

"I've been thinking some about you," he says taking a step out of the shadows so the moonlight filtering through my open window catches the red in both his eyes and his hair. He looks positively demonic and the look on his face stops my heart for just a moment. He cares, he really does. What in the world did I ever do to desire someone who would risk everything he is risking right now.

"Yeah, what about me?" I ask, it sounds a little ominous and my heart starts pounding in my chest. I tell myself to calm down there is nothing to worry about. He's been there for me. He cares. Even if it is in his own individual twisted sort of way.

"Gambit's been thinkin' that my power might help you with yours," He says shifting a little bit between his feet

The only thing I can think to do is to step back from him. What he's saying is too good to be true, and if he's wrong there's a lot at stake for him. Why would anyone take such a risk for me? "What do you mean, help with my power?" It's suspicious that he suddenly got an idea that might help me with my powers, the timing is something too.

"I was thinking that maybe my power could be like a barrier that you could draw off of instead of me. And then you know how every living thing has an electric field around them, maybe you could use that electric field instead of drawing on the person's consciousness," he says looking in my eyes the whole time, it's like he knows I'm distrustful of how convenient this is for him. It's no surprise that he wished we could touch. No doubt he wants to pay me back in kind for that kiss I gave him a short time ago.

I take another step back, the backs of my legs hitting my bed, he has several tells when he is lying or being less than totally honest at least when it comes to me. For one he will shift from one foot to the other, he will also continuously shift his eyes between the subject, in this case me, and his feet. After letting the silence hang he meets my gaze. "And you came to this conclusion how?" I ask cocking my head to one side as I watch him.

"Well you know how much Gambit hates day-time TV, well I was flipping through channels when I came across something about physics forces and thought I might as well learn; might help out at some point," he says, nerves showing through a little. I like him a little nervous. He knows all I need do is scream just once and Logan will come running like hound dog who just realized there was a fox in the hen house. And that would the end of these midnight visits.

"Another program came on after, it was about how the human body conducts electricity, and the rest kind of fell into place. Gambit can produce an electric charge and so maybe we could use that and you could learn to control it," he says, there is a good amount of reasoning behind it. I wonder why he wants to help me so much. I wonder why he cares, no one else really does. "So I'm gonna talk to the Professor tomorrow about join da' X-men. I wanna be here for you Cherie."

I almost believe him, almost. There is that catch in my throat, this is what I want, I want someone that sees what's inside and wants to see more of that. And for better or worse Gambit/Remy whoever he is does. He sees it, and he's not flinching away from like so many others. But I'm skeptical, I have to be. No one does anything for free let alone a man who was part of the notorious Thieves' Guild of New Orleans.

"What's in it for you Swamp Rat?" I ask, the catch what's the catch?

"Dat's easy Cherie, if da professor says yes I get to move in here and see yah more darlin'. And maybe just maybe we can figure you out." His eyes are meeting mine as he walks up to me not breaking eye contact. As soon as he is within reach his hand comes up to my face and with his covered fingers he brushes the white strands from my face careful not to touch me. "And maybe mah Cherie will find someone she can depend on and maybe she can learn to trust."

And then like a whisper in the dark he slips away from me around the foot of the bed. Before I can turn around he's out of the window leaving me with the silence and the dark. But he's left me something so much better than just a playing card, though those are kept in a safe place; he's left me with welling up of hope in my chest. It nearly choking and I find myself sinking down on knees before the window with an imitation of Mississippi air. Maybe just maybe I could be happy here. If I felt "normal" and accepted instead of untouchable and ostracized by my powers.


	6. Update 2

Update:

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been SO long, I've had a lot of health problems and school creep up in the last 6 months. They are all being dealt with and I will hopefully be able to get back on track with the story soon. I have the chapters I want to write planned out (one good thing of lots of time to kill), but I don't want to post one without having the next one written and in the editing process. Please have a little more patience with me, these stories aren't forgotten.


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